Kevin Spacey and Michael Rosenbaum talk about Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor

02.27.2014by: Jesse Giroux

Not one, but TWO former Lex Luthors recently shared their thoughts on Jesse Eisenberg playing the villain in Zack Snyder's BATMAN VS SUPERMAN. When the news first broke last month many were shocked Eisenberg had been cast as Luthor, and now SUPERMAN RETURN's Kevin Spacey and SMALLVILLE's Michael Rosenbaum have both expressed their opinions on the controversial casting.

We'll start with Kevin Spacey first, who in an interview with Empire, says Jesse Eisenberg is a great actor, and should do an excellent job playing Lex Luthor.

"First of all, I think [Jesse Eisenberg] is a remarkable actor. He's just going to [frick]ing own it. I think it's a great idea and I wish him the best with it."

But if you're hoping to see Kevin Spacey in a future comic book movie, I have some bad news for you. Spacey says he wants to explore other types of films, and would love to work with Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese.

"But now I want to explore different terrain. I wrote Woody Allen a letter last year, saying I'd be keen to do something with him. And he wrote back, very charmingly, so I'm on the list now! I set him up with a Netflix subscription too, but I don't know if he's used it. So, yeah, it would be great if that happened. I'm going to write to Scorsese. There are a lot of directors I need to get letters out to..."

Meanwhile over at The Cinematic Katzenjammer, Michael Rosenbaum was asked if he had any advice for Jesse Eisenberg.

"First off, I think he’s a really good actor. I don’t think he needs any advice from me, he’ll do his homework. Do it your way. I’m sure Zack [Snyder] has an idea. He cast you for reason. Jesse’s a good actor. He’ll do it his own way and that’s the best way. If you can do it your way, if you succeed or fail, you succeed because you are being original. If you’re trying to emulate someone, you’ll always be compared. That’s why I didn’t want to be compared during Smallville. I didn’t watch any of Gene Hackman as Lex. He’ll be fantastic. Great actor, no problem with it."

Jesse Eisenberg was the absolute last person I expected to be cast as Lex Luthor. I'm not sold on Eisenberg as the villain, but we still don't know Zack Snyder's plans for the character, or how he will be portrayed by the actor. Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor isn't the end of the world (even if some fans treat the casting like it is), and I for one am very interested in seeing how he'll be different from previous versions of the character.

BATMAN VS SUPERMAN starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jeremy Irons, Gal Gadot and Jesse Eisenberg will hit theaters on May 6th, 2016.